Shortly after hearing the news that she had won, Kafoury said she was "overjoyed."

"I'm really proud of the depth and breadth of support I received from folks in the community," she said. "I had a lot of people out working really hard for me, and I can't underestimate that."

Kafoury and Francesconi emerged early as the frontrunners in a pool of seven candidates vying for Cogen's former seat at the county's helm. Cogen resigned in September following controversy over his extramarital affair with a county Health Department manager. His early departure created a unique election in which voters would decide two county chair elections: One to decide who would finish Cogen's term, and another to decide who would fill the seat for a full four years beginning in January.

Kafoury, a former state Representative, joined the county board in 2008. After Cogen resigned, she announced she would seek his seat. But Kafoury held off on filing for candidacy to comply with a charter provision that requires commissioners to resign to run for another public office.

Francesconi's announcement in October that he would enter the race forced Kafoury to join him. Francesconi, a 61-year-old lawyer and former Portland City Commissioner, quickly identified East County's social and economic issues as his top priority. Kafoury ran on her track record as an advocate for the homeless and a leader in taking on long-awaited projects such as the Sellwood Bridge replacement.

The pair campaigned vigorously, with Francesconi taking a clear offensive. He called the county out for failing to get Clackamas County to help pay for the Sellwood Bridge project, and said county leadership has ignored the cities East of Portland. Kafoury, for the most part, deflected his attacks.

Kafoury will take office as soon as Tuesday's election results are certified—a requirement the elections office has 20 days to meet.

On Monday, she called Francesconi a "passionate" advocate for income equality, and said she hopes he'll continue fighting for the middle- and lower-class.

"His voice is definitely needed in this conversation," she said.

Francesconi, speaking from his campaign party at East Bank Saloon, said he had already called Kafoury to congratulate her. He said he was "proud of how I ran my campaign," and thanked his supporters and volunteers.

"I knew I was the underdog getting into this race, and I knew that there was a possibility of not winning," he said.

Francesconi won't run for public office again, he said, but he'll continue fighting for workers' rights and against income inequality. In the near term, he'll spend more time with his family.

When she takes office, Kafoury said her first order of business will be to refocus on issues of homelessness and early childhood educaton—two issues she took up as a District 1 commissioner. She said she hopes to continue to have a strong role in the new initiative to coordinate homelessness efforts with Portland, Gresham and Home Forward.

Kafoury will also be tasked with making some big decisions during her first days in office. Among them, she'll have to find a replacement for former Health Department Director Lillian Shirley, who took a job with the state, and Department of County Human Services Director Susan Myers, who is resigning effective May 30.

"Those positions are not as exciting to the outside world, but they're really, really important to how the county functions on a day to day," she said.

Marissa Madrigal, the interim county chairwoman who has held Cogen's seat since September, will continue working for the county as staffer in the Department of Human Resources. Kafoury said county leaders owe Madrigal "a debt of gratitude" for her work as interim chair.